Swipe left and right to switch articles

[Alphabet1226]

[BundleOfJoysticks]

This is the one feature I miss from inoreader. Thanks for considering it!

[alfureu]

Missing this feature badly too...

[sbellon]

Add me to the list.

[alfureu]

Would like to again endorse this function. The issue is that the app's usability for me is very limited without the swipe functionality. The current phones are rather big (e.g. Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 Pro) and reaching to the bottom of the screen for every article is really difficult without the risk of dropping the phone.

Please introduce this functionality 🙏

[JunkFood02]

Hello, I can understand the pain of using a phone with one hand, especially on a large screen. However, swiping left and right to switch between articles seems quite weird as a primary action. It could be triggered by accident when scrolling up and down to read a post. Instead of introducing a full screen gesture, we came up with the idea of using a FloatingActionButton at the BottomEnd of the screen for switching to the next article.

It looks like this:

Details

Feel free to tell us your thoughts about this suggestion!

[alfureu]

Thanks for the feedback. I disagree, one of the best apps (not developed anymore) for RSS on Android was Press. One does not need to scroll through the whole text (my server collects full text for reading) to get to the next article, if - based on the title and 1st para - one does not want to read it. Also, swiping helps skim-reading many articles while waiting for bus, or commuting.

Again, especially on huge phones (which become a norm these days), swiping is essential imho. At least introduce this functionality as optional, not everyone needs to agree with me

[JunkFood02]

huge phones (which become a norm these days), swiping is essential imho

Then how about making the button larger, or move it closer to your comfort zone? With a button placed at a fixed position, switching action should be more accessible and predictable than swiping across screens

[sbellon]

A larger button only covers more screen area. I have to agree with alfureu on this.

If you strongly object to swiping and want to add a floating button, then please do not make it large, and ensure that not only advancing to the next article, but also going back (by a long press perhaps?) is possible.

I still think, swiping would be the best choice (could be an option you can enable or not).

[Lzmxya]

I think adding FAB on the article screen is not a good idea, it will reduce the display space for the article and disrupt the reading experience. Referring to the Material Design guidelines, FAB should only be used to represent the screen's primary action. However, the most crucial action on the article screen is "reading the article!" Look at other web browsers, video players, or book readers, they don't have FAB on the main content.

Switching between previous or next articles by swiping left or right on the article screen is, in my opinion, a very intuitive design. In fact, that's what Gmail does, and it doesn't conflict with the system's back gesture:

Swiping in Gmail

gmail-swiping.mp4

Swiping gestures is also advantageous over the existing "v" button on the bottom toolbar. Here is a comparison of each option:

	Swipe gestures	FAB	Bottom toolbar "v" button
Visual distraction	None	High	Low
Go to next	Yes	Yes	Yes
Go to previous	Yes	?	No
Chance of fat-fingers	Low (If it has a suitable sensitivity thresholds)	High (Considering the position of FAB)	Middle
Back to the original article	Yes (Could do better by temporarily remembering articles scroll position)	?	No (Can only back to articles list)
Easy get started	Middle (May need a tutorial)	?	Middle (The icon may be misinterpreted as scrolling to the end of the article)
Conflicts with others	Yes (Transition direction is different from the "v" button)	?	Yes (Transition direction is different from the swipie gestures)

I believe excellent design should be intuitive, user-friendly, and universally applicable. If a design can fit in with the habits of most users, I think there's no need to "provide options" for that feature (that's why we rarely see options like "Enable pull-to-refresh?"). After all, too many options can be overwhelming and confusing, and simplify the complex is the better way to go. (Imagine if all the options from chrome://flags were added to chrome://settings 🤯)

[Ashinch]

Next, we’ll preview the effects of #468 or #481 in the nightly version to assess its impact on the current code logic.

[JunkFood02]

Lmao I can literally feel your hate on an FAB just like my hate on the horizontal swipe gestures. Though I've already got another design in my mind(will post in next reply), I'll still try to defend the idea of this big dumb button. Just a disclaimer: view are my own

An FAB will reduce the display space for the article and disrupt the reading experience.

Chance of fat-fingers (FAB): High (Considering the position of FAB)

According to my initial design, the fab will disappear (or collapse) along with the toolbar (just like the twitter app). I don't think the "reading experience" could be ruined by an invisible button, especially when you're really "reading" an article instead of taking a glance at the title and quickly swipe it away.

In fact, that's what Gmail does, and it doesn't conflict with the system's back gesture

Sorry but I've never noticed that exists in Gmail 😂, not a fan of it. I can even notice that many parts of it are simply against the material guidelines, like the navigation bar with only two items.

Though I didn't mention the part of back gesture, it could be an issue.

Switching between previous or next articles by swiping left or right on the article screen is, in my opinion, a very intuitive design

Visual distraction(Swipe gestures): None

Doubt it. Swiping horizontally to switch between articles is very counter-intuitive.

According to the material design guidelines (and my own feelings!), the lateral pattern is used for navigating between peer content at the same level of hierarchy, like swiping between tabs of a content library.

Think about the design of a photo gallery, switching between articles seems to fit this criterion just like switching between pictures. However, I'll expect switching between limited tabs or groups when displaying a vertical scrollable content. It's weird, but I feel overwhelmed when I find it possible to reveal more contents with two gestures perpendicular to each other.

Users like me may be more famillar with the pattern of "scrolling down to load more". For instance, pulling down to load component, or the endless feed in twitter or any other social media. I know this might sound like a SNS addict... And yes, it's addictive, because it's more intuitive for users than scrolling horizontally for a new content.

[JunkFood02]

And, here's my implementation of Pull up and down to switch articles 😉

Details

2024-02-05.15.46.41.mp4

[alfureu]

And, here's my implementation of Pull up and down to switch articles 😉

2024-02-05.15.46.41.mp4

Well, this looks very effective but impractical. Why should I swipe through a looooooong article from the New York Times, if I -know-, based on the title and 1st para that I do not want to read it?

In the other competing design, I can just swipe, and that's it.